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Faith in JCPOA Essential to Benefit From It

Faith in JCPOA Essential to Benefit From It
Faith in JCPOA Essential to Benefit From It

The continued implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal and plans to fully exploit its potential to help foster national development cannot be entrusted to those who oppose it, a political expert said, alluding to the conservative presidential candidates’ criticism of the deal.

“JCPOA does not merely reflect a will to reach an international agreement but rather a worldview based on peaceful resolution of international conflicts,” Diako Hosseini said, citing the official name of the accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

It was negotiated with the six major powers, namely the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, and has been in effect since January 2016 to curb Tehran’s nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.

“The implementation of the action plan can be pursued and its dividends can be effectively extracted only by those who feel bound by its spirit and the cause it represents. So, clearly those who have opposed the JCPOA and basically any diplomatic agreement and do nothing but use strong words and stoke tension against the nation’s interests are not capable of continuing the path of JCPOA,” Hosseini said in an interview with IRNA on Monday.

President Hassan Rouhani, who oversaw two years of negotiations leading to the accord, is in the race to win a second term.

His conservative contenders have railed against the action plan, claiming that Rouhani’s negotiating team has conceded too much to the western side by agreeing to significantly downsize Iran’s nuclear program.

They also claim that contrary to Rouhani’s claim, the accord has not benefited the national economy, despite the lifting of nuclear sanctions that had crippled oil, banking and other key economic sectors.

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Hosseini chided Rouhani’s critics for seeking to undermine the deal to advance their partisan interests.

“JCPOA and any other international pact that the Islamic Republic signs is considered a national asset and a commitment that must be put above partisan and factional interests,” he said.

Overseas firms and banks are still wary of the Iranian market, mainly because of the remaining US non-nuclear sanctions that ban the use of the US dollar to clear Iran-linked transactions through Washington’s financial system.

Hosseini attributed part of the foreigners’ reluctance to do businesses with Iranians to the inefficient domestic financial and banking system.

“We have been unable to absorb foreign investment and revive the economy because of the defective structure of the national economy and our failure to win the trust of foreign investors,” he said.

“[Rouhani’s opponents] refuse to be held accountable for hampering efforts to streamline the faulty monetary and financial sectors, and build investor confidence,” he added.

 

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